So Sad About Gloria (1973; Harry Thomason)

One of most interesting "where are they now" stories from the days of regional films involves director and producer Harry Thomason, who would produce such successful TV series as Designing Women and Evening Shade, and contribute to Bill Clinton's election campaign. He had paid his dues in the previous decade with a quartet of drive-in genre pictures made in his native Arkansas, including the horror anthology Encounter With The Unknown (1973); the 1975 rural comedy The Great Lester Boggs (of which I may be its one admirer); and the delightful 1950s sci-fi homage The Day It Came To Earth (1977). Of these, perhaps So Sad About Gloria is the most sentimental, character-driven and competently acted (if because it features some Hollywood talent... not to take away from the busy local players who appear in many of these films).  

The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961; Coleman Francis)

Everything you have read about Beast Of Yucca Flats is true. It really is one of the worst films ever made. Or, are we missing the point? Surely no one would aspire to make something this terrible, or is this film an intentional gob of spit in the face of Tinseltown?

 

Slipstream (1973; David Acomba)

"The prairie knows nothing but the wind; it's raptured by its breeze and ridden by its storm"

Reclusive DJ Mike Mallard (Luke Askew) hosts a radio show whose on-air soundscapes of unusual music, sprinkled with poetic narration, has developed a mystique among his young counterculture audience of listeners that is entranced enough by this mystery to seek him out in person.  The enigmatic aura is furthered with Mallard's broadcast emanating from a secluded farmhouse. This successful gimmick was dreamed up by his producer Alec Braverman (Eli Rill) to develop a following of listeners, yet the brooding disc jockey has tired of the gimmicks and continues to explore artistic purity on the airwaves, while receiving pressure from his boss to play more conventional, commercial music.

Bikini Drive-In (1995; Fred Olen Ray)

A well-remembered T&A favourite from the days of late night cable, Bikini Drive-In remains one of the most durable titles from the prolific Fred Olen Ray, whose low-budget exploitation films were plentiful on rental shelves and specialty channels during the heyday of the video age.  His movies are especially known for generous showcases of old and new favourite B-movie personalities. As per its namesake, Bikini Drive-In, features many veterans from ye olde drive-in, as well as scream queens and familiar Cinemax personalities of its time. 

Panic in the City (1968; Eddie Davis)

I've long been fascinated with the low-budget genre quickies produced in the late 1960s under the various umbrellas of United Pictures Corporation. These undemanding films (including Destination Inner Space, Cyborg 2087, Dimension 5, and The Destructors) mostly found distribution on television. As late as the 1990s, they were still filler on City TV's "Late Great Movies". (Our most important film education often came from whatever aired at 4:10 AM).